Unhappy with the barricading of the radial roads in Connaught Place on Thursday, the New Delhi Traders' Association protested the move by the NDMC.

Unhappy with the barricading of the radial roads in Connaught Place on Thursday, the New Delhi Traders' Association protested the move by the NDMC.

On Thursday morning, when traders at Connaught Place (CP) turned up for work at K-block, they found that barricading had narrowed down the radial road to a single lane. Traders protested the move, claiming it hampered their businesses, following which the barricading was removed.

"We asked the New Delhi Municipal Council (to remove the barricading as it was affecting our business," said Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders' Association (NDTA).

After a gap of three months, NDMC is currently gearing up to restart redevelopment work in the commercial hub.

Defending their move, the civic body said the barricades put up on Thursday were part of the process of restarting the work.

"The barricades were put up by us as an experiment. After further trials, work may begin during the weekend," said Anand Tiwari, NDMC spokesperson.

NDTA has now requested NDMC to call up a meeting to discuss the matter.

"A traffic plan has to be chalked out through which the renovation work can continue without hampering our business," added Bhargava.

Once the work begins, it will focus on constructing four out of the eight proposed subways.

Also, to connect the underground tunnel to each of the blocks, four of the eight radial roads will be dug up first.

Work will be done in a phased manner, so that jams can be lessened in the commercial hub. According to the traffic police, there will be no parking available in the middle circle and Radial Roads 2,3,4 and 7 during redevelopment.